The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented demand for medical products to diagnose, treat and prevent transmission of the disease. Many U.S. companies, including those not in the medical product business, are rising to the challenge to provide these critical products and are rightly concerned about exposure to possible product liability claims.
Much has been written about the express liability protections provided for "recommended activities" involving "covered countermeasures," in the secretary of health and human services' March 17 declaration of a public health emergency, which was issued pursuant to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness, or PREP, Act.[1] This article addresses a different potential liability defense — the court-created doctrine of implied conflict preemption.
Click here to continue reading "Implied Conflict Preemption May Apply In COVID-19 Cases," which was published in Law360 and authored by Susan Burnett and Daniel Rock.